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Sunday, 31 March 2013

Good evening! I hope you've had a blessed week and have started relaxing as the holidays greet us. It's greeted us with the coldest of days here in the UK, and I'm far from a winter person. Such a British thing to bring up weather at the beginning of a conversation, isn't it? But anyway, this post is far more interesting - I promise!

The box on the outside, and of course my surname is misspelt

Latest In Beauty is a UK based company that sell premium sized samples of new-in cosmetics from slightly high brands so that you can trial them before they hit the market! Heaven for a person like me who likes to be on top of new-in skincare and makeup. As well as being able to purchase individual items you can get a free beauty box which compiles of three smaller samples of your choice (you pay £1.50 through your phone credit) or you can opt for the larger beauty boxes which compiles of premium sized and full sized products.

Below are the photos and first impressions of each item (I've never used any of these items before).

Benefit 'They're Real!' Mascara

I've heard a lot of hype on this product on the internet and from friends and had the intention of buying it before I discovered this Beauty Box. I have medium/short lashes and rely on using two or more mascaras to give me the volume and length I need. I used this on it's own to test it but I still think I need another tackier mascara underneath it to make my lashes really stand out. But nonetheless, I love how it dried quite quickly and stiffly and did not flake off my lashes, I have a real problem with mascaras flaking down under my eyes and on my lid throughout the day. I also love the wand, it's perfect!

Daniel Sandler Waterproof Eyeliner

This eyeliner has really good pigment and lasts really well and stiffly without smudging. But I would recommend you dry your waterline before applying this as it does not apply very well, I think there is some kind of oil in the ingredients. As you can see from the picture, it is a retractable eyeliner which helps in that you don't need to keep sharpening it to use. Perfect.

The Vintage Cosmetics Company Eye Shadow Brush

Unfortunately, this brush was a let down. The handle is gorgeous and I love the vintage font on the handle, but the bristles of the brush itself are too stiff to be anywhere near your eye! Very harsh, it feels like pins on the tender skin around the eye. Unimpressed.

Bellápierre Mineral Eye Shadow

This has got to be my favourite item in this collection! This is actually a multi-use pigment, which means you can use it on the eyes, as a bronzer (or highlighter if you have deeper skintones), or if you dip a thin liner brush in water before dipping it in the pigment you can use it as an eyeliner! ("One of the most versatile eye shadows around; mix this little gem with your favourite moisturiser, lip balm, or even a drop of water and it becomes an eye shadow, eyeliner, mascara, lipstick, bronzer, nail polish or whatever you want it to be!" quoted from, Latest In Beauty) I only used it as an eyeshadow so far (without mixing it with anything) and I'm in love with the pigmentation this gives! Everyone should have this!

Pixi Sheer Cheek Gel

I have never really tried a gel foundation before this, but nonetheless I found it very easy; I simply used my fingers to stipple a little of this onto the apples of my cheeks and it gave the most natural glowing peachy/pink shade with a slight golden shimmer! This is perfect on the days where you want to have a very 'unmade-up' face and you can't ever over-do it which is perfect! Such a gorgeous product, gives your skin a flawless natural glow. In love.

Inika Liquid Mineral Foundation

I'm not going to go into too much detail, but this is an organic foundation which claims to be 'packed full of organic antioxidants, vitamins and minerals' and is supposed to be perfect for dry/combination skin. Initially I was put off by the shade (Honey) which looked around an NC30/NC35 on my hand, but after blending it into my skin - it blends like a dream by the way, extraordinary - it just makes me look slightly more tanned, which I like. The coverage is on the light side of medium, it covered most of my imperfections but I felt like I was still seeing a bit of the major ones show through. The finish is satin, which looks so natural and glowing. The only major downfall in this foundation for me is the smell. As all organic products, this has an extremely strong scent of essential oils and herbs, what's worse is that it does not go! The smell sits on your face all day! I have a really strong sense of smell and this can't go past me unfortunately, but I will still wear this foundation, maybe I can get used to the smell?..

Overall, I really like this collection of products and I'm actually thinking of repurchasing as I'm in love with some of the items!

~

I hope this post was beneficial and thank you for reading :)

Any questions or enquiries email lifelongpercussion@gmail.com or comment below.

Sunday, 24 March 2013

Good morning my lovely readers :)As the title states, today's review will be on my *current* favourite foundation (*and I stress on 'current' because my favourites change constantly*). True Match by L’Oréal quickly gained a really good response from beauty bloggers and general makeup-wearers nation-wide. I will discuss the aspects I like and dislike from this foundation and WHY it is a current favourite of mine. Let's read its description first;"Following research into the skin-tones of women from around the world, the L’Oréal Laboratories have developed a unique palette of 12 skin-true shades in L'Oréal Paris True Match Foundation.

The result for L'Oréal Paris True Match Foundation is a natural looking, skin-true colour without tide-marks and outstanding coverage without caking.

I decided to buy this foundation after reading and watching countless reviews. As any other foundation, I prefer to do my research before purchasing and my research mainly revolves around the shade range (there MUST be a yellow toned medium/light shade), the coverage (I don't bother buying a foundation with light coverage, I only buy light/medium to full coverage foundations) and price (I prefer not to buy anything too cheap or too expensive, the most expensive foundation I own is £32 and I don't think I'd go over £30 again as I find the more expensive foundations are based on the name of the brand instead of the quality of the foundation). I was pleased with the price tag of this foundation (£10.29, and I believe it's even cheaper in the US) and that the shades were split into W (warm undertones - yellow, orange), N (neutral undertones - a mixture of yellow and pink) and C (cool undertones - pink) so there's a shade for everyone. If you have dark skin it will be difficult to find a perfect shade as this foundations doesn't run too dark which is a shame, and typical of a drugstore foundation. I initially bought the shade W3 but quickly noticed that it was a tad too light for me and it ran slightly pink which disappointed me so I went and purchased W4. I would say W3 = NC20 and W4 = NC25/NC30

Top: W3 Bottom: W4

The texture of this foundation is very, very runny (liquidy) and very thin, initially I thought this might cause less coverage then I'd hoped but I quickly learnt that that was not the case at all. The foundation blends like a dream and gives medium coverage which can be easily built up to fuller coverage.

It dries matte and I would generally not recommend this for people with dry skin as it can accentuate flakiness and dry areas. I powder my T-zone because it is very oily and avoid powdering the rest of my face as I am prone to dryness. It lasts for around 5 hours before it begins to disintegrate which is not bad for a drugstore foundation. I find applying this with any foundation brush gives the same finish, but a buffing brush gives the most even finish with really good coverage.

What I like:

good coverage

blends amazingly

lasts a decent time

good colour range for warm undertones

not overpriced

a pump to dispense product

What I dislike:

accentuates dryness and large pores unattractively (I use a good primer to combat this)

no sun protection (no SPF)

very runny

Overall, I find when I want to use a drugstore foundation I'm always reaching out for this one from my foundation collection because of its overpowering good qualities and ease in application.

I hope this post was beneficial and thank you for reading :)

Any questions or enquiries email lifelongpercussion@gmail.com or comment below.

Sunday, 17 March 2013

Salaam/Good afternoon my lovely readers, apologies for the super long title; it had to be done.

SO this is a review/run-through my discovery of this cream and what it has done to my skin. Just to be clear, my skin type is dry/combination, in the past my skin has been very dry and now its less dry and a little oily. I get oily in my T-zone and get extremely dry around my mouth area and around my nose. You can say that the rest of my face is 'normal'. On top of all that I have sensitive and spot-prone skin, so yes, I really do suffer when trying out new skincare products or regimens. But I will be writing a lot of posts on how I counteract all of these problems to maintain skin that is 'at bay'. So as you can already tell, it's really hard for me to find the perfect moisturiser (or skin products in general) that caters for all of my skin problems, and I know there are many girls out there who suffer like I do and more. I'm here to help ;)

One night me and my lovely Fatima who is also a new blogger (check out her blog here) were discussing skincare products we use, and she recommended the Oilatum cream, we decided she'd show me where to get it when we went shopping together the following week. However, the next day, I was recommending my Uni friend some makeup products at Boots (drugstore) and as we walked to the till I spotted a 'clearance' shelf which I hadn't seen before. The Oilatum cream sat there beaming at me with a £3.30 tag instead of it's usual £7.65. I didn't think twice.

OK, enough story telling, now onto the actual product. Let's see what is said about the product first.

Oilatum Natural Face Cream is suitable for dry and sensitive skin and is free from fragrances, preservatives and emulsifiers.

For the past week the area around the corners of my lips has been so dry and flaky, nothing was working, it was so bad that it hurt to open my mouth and it was extremely tight. Having persistent flaky skin and then applying foundation on top does NOT look good, it just accentuates the dryness and makes the condition worse. My safflower oil wasn't working and neither was my current moisturiser (Elizabeth Arden Visible Difference Hydrating Complex Cream). From the first day of using the Oilatum Natural Repair face cream the flakiness was GONE, the dryness was GONE, the tightness was absolutely nonexistent. I just had a bit of pigmentation where the skin was broken. On top of that, it made my skin as smooth as a baby's bottom. It did not irritate my broken skin and it healed it instantly. I agree with all of the product's claims. I think this would be very suitable for those suffering with eczema too. I use this as a night cream and I try not to get it anywhere near my T-zone and chin.

I hope this was beneficial Thank you for reading and THANK YOU SO MUCH FATIMA for recommending this God-send product. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Shukran.

Any questions or enquiries email lifelongpercussion@gmail.com or comment below :)

Illamasqua's skin base foundation has quickly found its way into my favourites list. Before I go into my review let's take a look at what Illamasqua says about it.

"Inspired by the cult Asian market Beauty Balm creams, Skin Base Foundation is a brand new, refined formula unlike anything on the UK market. Easily blendable, it effortlessly creates a perfect complexion, and like the entire Illamasqua foundation range, is undetectable in a professional HD environment. Suitable for all skin types, it smoothes, softens and conditions your skin whilst providing natural, buildable coverage."The first time I used this foundation I could not get my head around the way it feels so light yet gives effortlessly full coverage. It looks so natural on the skin unlike other full coverage foundations I've tried and just feels like you're wearing no foundation at all. It blends like a dream, melts right into the skin and gives an airbrushed flawless finish and doesn't flashback as it has no SPF. You can easily thin out the coverage, if you like, using either a moisturiser or a setting spray (I use ELF's mist and set). I find applying it using a buffing brush or a stippling brush gives best results. Illamasqua is also famous for catering for theatrical/artistic makeup, so the foundation (as most of their products) is extremely pigmented in comparison to makeup from other high end brands such as Dior or Chanel which are more about packaging and band name than the product itself.

Illamasqua Skin Base Foundation

This foundation retails at £27 here in the UK, which is a pretty average price for a higher end foundation. The packaging is a small plastic squeeze bottle which some people frown upon thinking it is very cheap etc, but to be quite honest I prefer it over the 'luxurious' glass packaging. It's easy to travel with, and easy to finish off the last drop without wasting any product. Another thing which makes me love this foundation is the smell, it smells of caramel and vanilla! Honestly, such a big plus for me and my sensitive nose.

Illamasqua Skin Base swatch (7.5)

Illamasqua caters for pretty much all shades, from the very pale to the very dark (there's a pure white shade in this range which is useful in lightening foundations). If buying online, finding the right shade is pretty straightforward and it tells you what undertone each shade has (yellow, pink, neutral). I was initially matched at a counter to the shade 6.5 which I found was too light for me (around a NC20 in Mac) so I then went onto the website and decided I was a 7.5 and when I bought it I was extremely pleased with the shade match. It's a little bit darker than an NC25 and much yellower (which is good for me), meaning it will also match my summer skintone.

The finish of this foundation I would say is semi-matte, and it doesn't dry too quickly so you have time to blend it well. It suits all skintypes, but I would advise people with severely dry skin to moisturise really well beforehand and with very oily skin to powder afterwards and use a mattifying moisturiser and primer.

Thank you for reading and I hope this post was beneficial :) For any inquiries or questions don't hesitate to email me at lifelongpercussion@gmail.com or comment below.Habiba xxx

Thursday, 7 March 2013

Evening all! This is one of many foundation reviews I will be doing, as I am a massive foundation addict and like to try all kinds of them. This foundation is very different to any other that I've tried in many aspects, mainly because it is a theatrical based makeup with no SPF, high colour pigmentation percentage etc. Even Wayne Goss raves about it. So, let's get cracking!What Mehron says about this product: "Mehron, the extreme beauty leader, is proud to introduce Celebré PRO-HD Makeup Foundation. This latest innovative product is the result of collaborative efforts by the chemists in Mehron’s product development lab along with input from a select group of highly acclaimed makeup artists. Celebré PRO-HD Makeup Foundation is an oil-free and fragrance-free cream makeup that delivers satin-smooth, buildable coverage that is non-greasy and great for all skin types. Our experienced chemists formulatedCelebré PRO-HD to be buildable to suit the amount of coverage needed. It contains powerful antioxidants such as vitamin E, pomegranate and aloe vera that help soothe the skin.

Renowned industry makeup artists worked with the experts at Mehron to create an impressive array of colors to accommodate all skin tones. The results of their efforts is a perfect range of colors that will be sold individually for consumers or in a 20 color palette for professional makeup artists. From fashion runways and HD-TV to everyday wear, Celebré Pro-HD works for every occasion and on all skin types and colors."

What I say:

I am pretty much in love with this product. No joke. I have never actually used a cream foundation before (except for the Sleek créme to powder foundation which I actually use to contour as I find contour powders look muddy on my skin) and I always thought they were too thick and hard to apply, but I was very pleasantly surprised by this foundation. This product was created for theatrical/HD purposes which is why it lacks SPF which makes it much more photo-friendly (your face doesn't look ghostly white when you take photos using flash/does not reflect light) I love this property because I can always wear a moisturizer with SPF underneath (my primer has SPF anyway). It blends like a dream, it is so smooth and emollient; literally melts into your skin. Honestly! I have been using a buffing brush by Beauty B, I only need to dab the brush into the foundation twice/thrice for my entire face (medium coverage) and it blends the foundation into my skin seamlessly.

I was quite skeptical when selecting a shade to match my skin, I searched all over the internet for swatches and reviews because the colours given in the shade chart look really off.

But then I found this blog which has a swatch for every single colour available. I initially picked the shade ME1 but then felt it might be too light so then I also bought Eurasia Japonais. Here are the swatches:

Eurasia Japonais, ME1

Eurasia Japonais (mind the grubbiness)

ME1

On my face, ME1 is slightly lighter than my winter skintone, I'd say it is around an NW15/20 (I'm NC25 in Mac) with pink/neutral undertones and Eurasia Japonais is around NC30 which is slightly too dark for me but very yellow toned! Which I absolutely love. I'm very happy that I got these two shades, because they look perfect on my skin when mixed together, I do look slightly more tanned but I'm currently loving the tan look anyway. To make them both work on my face I first apply ME1 under my eyes and upper cheeks (basically the middle area of my face) and also anywhere else where the skin is usually highlighted; nose, chin, center of forehead etc. Then I apply Eurasia Japonais in the gaps and blend blend blend! the finish is very very flawless, pores are invisible, scars are invisible, skin looks perfect and it doesn't feel heavy on the skin at all! It definitely gives a very satin finish which doesn't sit very well with my oily T-zone. I just powder my face using a translucent powder and I'm done! It lasts around 5 hours with no touching up, I start to get a little oily around my T-zone and just powder it to get rid of that little issue. I don't recommend this for people with extremely oily skin as it's very emollient and will probably slip off your skin within hours. And for those with dry skin I would advise you make sure your skin is well moisturized beforehand as this foundation can accentuate dryness unattractively. It has medium coverage if you use a very little amount, but can be layered for fuller coverage or mixed with a moisturizer for less coverage.

I was about to buy it from the Mehron website but it had extra international shipping (it's an American based company) so then I did a bit of research and found a theatrical seller on eBay (click here for link), including shipping each cost £10.99 which is cheaper than many drugstore foundations that wouldn't even amount to the quality of this product. For makeup artists you can also buy a palette with full sizes of all the shades too which is very useful as these foundations are perfect for photoshoots and catwalks. All in all I am very impressed with this foundation and will definitely be repurchasing as soon as mine finish.For any further questions or inquiries do not hesitate to contact me at lifelongpercussion@gmail.comHabiba x

Wednesday, 6 March 2013

Good evening all :) today I'm going to be going into detail on a face mask I fell in love from first trying it out around nine months or so ago, and even though now I tend to lean towards masks from drugstore or high end brands, I still believe that masks and scrubs made from ingredients found in your kitchen are much more beneficial. I have many different recipes ranging from a green tea scrub to an oat scrub taking less then five minutes to make with very little ingredients. So if you're interesting in any other recipes please let me know!So today it's all about eggs, some people who hear me talk about my yogurt masks or my egg masks often look at me in disgust. No, the eggs don't smell. This egg mask is filled with proteins which really nourishes the skin. After one use of this mask your skin will feel firmer and plumper, it gives a beautiful glow to your skin. For those with oily skin, this mask is perfect as it soaks up all of the dirt and sebum from your pores and shrinks them substantially. For those with drier skins, you can easily add a teaspoon of honey to give the skin extra radiance and moisture. You can also mix it up entirely by adding yogurt (moisturizes skin), honey and rosewater (natural cleanser/toner) or lemon juice (helps fade scarring).

Method:

Separate an egg into two small bowls.

(My egg yolk sort of broke)

2. Whisk the whites using a fork for just over a minute/ until you start seeing little bubbles forming on the surface.

3. Now you can either apply the whisked whites (alliteration intended) straight on your face [using a brush or just your fingers] or you can go ahead and mix in any ingredient you think your skin needs; i.e. Yogurt/honey/lemon juice/rose water.

4. Leave it on your face until it dries which takes around 15/20 minutes depending. As soon as it dries and starts to crack around your mouth area wash it off with warm water, pat your face dry using a towel and feel your skin.

There you have it :) four easy steps for an amazing mask using products straight out of your kitchen. Now, you might be wondering what would happen to the egg yolk, as soon as you finish the whites mask, you can go ahead and do the same thing using the yellow bit. The main benefit for the yolk to your skin is moisture and brightening. Also, I usually add a drop of olive oil for that extra moisture for my often thirsty skin.